Top nature and birding company Naturalist Journeys announces a tour to the Ozarks, timed for the peak of fall color.

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) May 31, 2013

Naturalist Journeys, a top nature and birding tour company, is proud to announce their upcoming October 20-27, 2013 Ozark Mountain Magic nature and culture tour.

Ed Pembleton, who will lead the tour with his wife, Sil, says, “From the bottom of Blanchard Springs Cavern to the top of Tom Sauk Mountain, the Ozarks offer bubbling azure waters, woodlands ringing with birdsong, prairies painted with fall color highlights, and country living blessed with crafts and mountain music. The wonderful rugged geology of the Ozarks makes it an intriguing area with a wealth of natural history and cultural diversity. Many locals point out, quite correctly, ℠Our mountains ain´t much for height “¦ but our valleys are mighty deep.´ Hilltop vistas stretch out over thousands of wooded acres blanketed each fall by brilliant autumnal colors, dotted with occasional stately pines, cedars, and prairie openings known as glades.”

Water is the artist that shapes the Ozarks’ landscape, explains Naturalist Journeys´ owner Peg Abbott. It colors the culture, and adds a magical touch to all the places participants will explore on this tour. Valleys are lined with clear streams fed by cool flowing springs that are masterpieces both prized for their beauty and appreciated for their ability to generate commerce and cultural centers. The Ozarks are riddled with caves, and it is in these caverns where water has hewn and painted captivating masterpieces that seem to defy explanation.

This trip is rich in learning about folk culture, as tour participants devote time to exploring crafts and culture at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. Here they will meet musicians, crafts people, and storytellers who spin colorful yarns. Fall is the traditional season for harvest celebrations.

Towards the end of the tour, participants will discover the ancient roots of this region, a landscape formed by the cooling and uplift of granite batholiths, intrusions of basalt, and volcanic eruptions. Some of the oldest exposed rocks in North America can be found here.

This tour begins and ends in St. Louis, Missouri. This eight-day tour is limited to 12 persons. The tour features such diverse destinations as Blanchard Springs Caverns and the Ozark Folk Center.

About Naturalist Journeys

Naturalist Journeys LLC, a top birding and nature tour company, offers specialty small group travel worldwide, from the western U.S. to Alaska, Hawaii and Florida, Costa Rica, Panama, safaris in Africa and more. Naturalist Journey´s guided nature and birding tours feature expert guides with decades of experience in bird-watching, travel photography and other forms of Eco-tourism. Naturalist Journeys also offers hiking and adventure travel tours in many national parks and wildlife reserves, including the Galapagos, Antarctica and the Amazon.